What is the impact of DNA evidence on a conviction based on a single piece of evidence?

Appellant emphasizes the "DNA only" nature of this case. We agree that a conviction hinging on a single piece of evidence is theoretically more troubling than a conviction based on multiple pieces of evidence. This concern was raised - rightly, we believe - in the "fingerprint only" cases upon which appellant relies for this point. In Birt v. Superior Court (1973) 34 Cal.App.3d 934 (Birt), for example, the only evidence linking the female defendant to the burglary was a lone fingerprint found on a cigarette lighter inside a rental van used by two male suspects during the crime. (Id. at p. 937.) The lighter, a movable object, was not taken from the burgled premises and defendant's

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